Portabella Pizza Bites

Portabella Mushroom Pizza Bites – Pizza Without the Carbs!

If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m a big fan of pizza. For some reason it just seems so special and indulgent to me, perhaps because it has gotten such a bad rap as a junk food. Well, the good news is that there IS a place for pizza in your P90x nutrition plan, even if you’re in Phase 1. And even more so if you can replace the one iffy part of it – the carb base. We Xers are always looking for good food carriers that don’t involve the carbs!

I’ve experimented once before with Portabella mushrooms as a base for yummy protein servings, and it came out fairly well. Since then I’ve always thought that I should try the same thing out with pizza toppings. Well, here we are a year later, and I finally did it. The one hitch was that I couldn’t find full-sized mushroom caps at my store that day. Weird! So I picked out the little guys, and they ended up being cute and filling. They also scream appetizer, so consider these if you’re ever looking for a tasty P90x friendly appetizer for a party. =)

Recipe Ingredients:

1/2 cup marinara sauce (if all you have is a tomato, you can try my Xed Pizza Sauce)

1/2 oz. turkey pepperoni (approx. 6 slices)

2 oz. black olives

3 oz. low-fat Mozzarella cheese

1 egg white

Portabella Pizza Bite Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Clean mushrooms and scoop outthe insides and stem with a spoon.

Place on baking pan and bake for 7 minutes.

While mushrooms are baking, grate Mozzarella, and combine in a bowl with one egg white. (Usually low-fat cheese has trouble melting, so this technique helps the cheese melt while adding a bit of protein.)

P90x Nutrition Plan Servings:

P.S. When cleaning your mushroom, don’t rinse them under water like I did – mushrooms are very absorbent, and I found that mine came out a bit watery. I’ve since learned that you should just brush the dirt off of them with a cloth or paper towel.

For the Pinterest People:

P.P.P.S. Hi Pinterest folks! I’m feeling very flattered that everyone likes this recipe idea so much. Thanks for sharing! If you like this, you might like several of my other recipes:

Judy

I was just searching for an appealing Portabella mushroom recipe, love pizza, however, usually don’t have it since I do my best to avoid the white stuff… I came upon your recipe.. I think I just found my “NEW favorite thing” for dinner tonite! Just goes to show you it’s never too late to learn !!! I’m 75 and had never made Portabella mushrooms till this eve… Soooo good!!! ;o))

What a great idea. We aren’t vegan, but have several foods we are trying to avoid due to health and allergy issues. This sounds yummy (well, the egg and cheese will have to go ; >( but it will still be great.)